CROYDON - 2016

On Nov. 9, 2016, a tram derailed near Addiscombe Road in Croydon, killing five people and injuring more than 50 others. The London Fire Brigade sent eight engines and five fire rescue units.  London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: "Firefighters worked tirelessly this morning to help the injured and rescue those who were trapped.”

REUNION - 1956

Photo: London Fire Brigade
London firefighters rescue Dennis Norman McGowan, 19 months old, on Feb. 25, 1956. The child's mother waits below.

MANCHESTER - 1996

Photos: Wikipedia, Manchester Fire & Rescue

On June, 15, 1996, the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a 3,000-pound bomb on Corporation Street in central Manchester, injuring more than 200 people during the Euro football championships.

Remarkably, there were no deaths.

The bomb was the largest denotation in Great Britain since World War II.

A telephoned warning preceded the blast by about 90 minutes allowing for the evacuation of 75,000 or more people.

SEND ALL THE PUMPS! - 1940

Photo: PortCitiesLondon, Caters News Agency
Fire at Surrey Commercial Docks, Rotherhithe on  Sept. 7, 1940, the first day of the Blitz. 
Gerry Knight, a station officer, sent a message to the alarm office from the docks, saying: "Send all the bloody pumps you've got … The whole bloody world's on fire!" according to PortCitiesLondon.

CANTEEN

Photo: London Fire BrigadeThe canteen was one of the longest serving vehicles in London Fire Brigade history. It went in service in 1938 and continued into the 1960s, according to LFB website.  It was staffed by a crew of two firefighters. 

TAUNTON - 1978

Photos: BBC

On July 6, 1978, fire burned out a British Rail sleeping car at Fairwater Close, Taunton, killing 13 people and injuring others.

The train was travelling from Penzance to Paddington station in London when laundry stacked against an electric heater ignited, the BBC said.

All 31 of the dead or injured were in the front two carriages.

Car doors were locked, a violation of British Rail rules, preventing a means of escape.

A passenger said: "I remember being woken up and being carried out of the train. The place was full of smoke. All I could see was people smashing the windows and trying to get other people out."

Fireman Derek James said: "It was a really eerie scene. Then we had instructions to go in and remove the people from the carriage. It was horrendous in there."

Ray Stokes, a newspaper reporter, said people living near the tracks used wire cutters to break down a fence to render aid.